Tuesday, December 31, 2013

It’s the first of January, which means it’s time to
outline my goals for the year in the desperate hope that making them public
will shame me into actually achieving them.

I have some formal, some informal as I think it’s
important to distinguish between those things that you’d like to do and those
things that are necessary for moving your career forward. First, the critical
few:

1. Finish two
first drafts over 30k.

This one speaks for itself and hopefully will be pretty
straight forward. I still have books contracted under my pen name for harlequin
to get done, I haven’t written book 3 of Lifesphere and I have two half
finished 80k-100k novels I’d like to see completed, so I have a lot to choose
from.

2. Edit two novels
over 30k.

Again, pretty self explanatory. I still have to do
another edit of Lifesphere book 2 and edits for Harlequin will be happening
early in the year, so I might get this one done by the end of January.

3. Get under
65kgs.

This has been a goal for a few years running and I
haven’t made any progress. However I stopped taking one of my long term
medications that can cause weight gain a few months ago and recently started an
exercise and healthy eating pact with a friend and the weight is flying off.

On the medication previously I could run on the treadmill
everyday and eat nothing but salad and lean meat and still be gaining weight.
Just maintaining my weight was a constant nightmare struggle. Now I’m off it, I
ate roast pork, potatoes and chocolate for three days straight over Christmas
and still lost a kilogram.

Only three months after stopping the medication, I’m the
lightest I’ve been in ten years.

4. Fully prepare
Lifesphere 2 and 3 for publication.

Obviously I still need the numbers before I can publish
the books, but we’re extremely close to the threshold for book 2 and I suspect
it will boost the downloads for book 1 again. Remember, if you want to see book
2 and 3 this year, you need to keep sharing and recommending book 1 to your
friends.

And informally:

1. Blog once a
week.

I choose blogging as my interactive platform. I know
twitter is all the rage, or even tumblr or facebook. However I like the idea of
actually creating content, and as a writer, that means writing. I love being
able to write articles on the writing process and having people tell me they’re
helpful. I’m very keen to get back to that.

2. Be well enough
to volunteer with the arts and library council.

It’s great to give back to the community, but really I
just need to get out more. I’d like to find a volunteer position that allowed
me to meet a broad range of people in the community, so I’ve love to volunteer
at the library or gallery.

3. Make more time
for friends.

My health makes it impossible to do all the awesome
things I’d like to with friends, like going hiking and clubbing. However I truly
know some of the most awesome people on the planet and I’d like to spend more
time with them.

So there you have it. My goals for 2014. They hinge heavily
on the two axis of my life, writing and illness, but so does my day to day.
Writing is the best thing in my life and illness is the worst, but they both
require a lot of sacrifices on my part. They also both require constant effort,
research, networking and self control. They are both things to be constantly
worked on and improved.

You make the most of what you have though. If I wasn’t
ill, I wouldn’t be able to write full time.

If I wasn’t ill, writing wouldn’t be a struggle though
and I would be a lot further in my career.

I am striving to make 2014 better—not because 2013 was
bad, but because striving to be better is a worthwhile goal in itself.

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About Me

Born in 1985, Talitha is a geeky Australian writer who spends an unhealthy amount of time reading and watching horror movies. She also loves fresh water shrimps and snakes, and lives in a house dominated by various tanks housing both. She advises that shrimps are the best companions for writers; as they always look like they are typing. Snakes, on the other hand, simply knock everything off your desk—including keyboards, mugs, entire computers and shrimp tanks.
Talitha’s other interests include entomology, rock climbing, reading, web design, photography and video gaming.